Air cushioned belt conveyor

ABSTRACT

The conveyer comprises a flexible belt whose load side is confined in a trough which is made closed at its top and ends, and is connected at its bottom to the pressure port of a fan, and at its top, in the place where the material is discharged, to the suction port of said fan, thus preventing the upper layer of the conveyed dusty material from being blown off.

Umted States Patent 1 91 1111 3,744,619 Dolgolenko 'et al. 1 1 Jul 10,1973 AIR CUSHIONED BELT CONVEYOR v [76] Inventors: Anatoly AlexandrovichDolgolenko; EmmlmeF'Edward Pavel Pavlovich Onokhov; Jury man & Stem 4Meerovich Makhover, all of 8 Sovetskaya ulitsa, 17/19, kv. l6,Leningrad, U.S.S.R. 221 Filed: Apr. 11, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT PP N05242,953 The conveyer comprises a flexible belt whose load side isconfined in a trough which is made closed at its top 52 US. Cl. 198/184and ends, and is Connected at its bottom to the Pressum 51 1111. c1.865g 15/28 P0lrt 0f a fan, and at its P the Place where the ss Field ofSearch 198/184- 302 1 1, terial is discharged to the shchoh P of Saidthus 302/22 preventing the upper layer of the conveyed dusty materialfrom being blown off. [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS756,600 4 1904 i Dodge 198/184 x 3 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure 1 AIRCUSHIONED BELT CONVEYOR The invention relates to conveyers, and morespecifically to an air-cushioned belt conveyer.

The present invention can be most advantageously utilized for horizontaland smoothly inclined transportation of loose materials in the chemical,mining, and metallurgical industries, particularly such powderedmaterials whose transportation is accompanied with strong dusting causedby the upper layers of the material being carried away (blown off) bythe reverse air flow.

Such a conveyer can be equally employed to transport toxic materials.

Known in the art are air-cushioned belt conveyers wherein the load sideof the belt moves in a covered trough. This trough is at its bottomconnected to the pressure port of a fan which delivers compressed air tobetween the load side of the belt and the trough, to form therebetweenan air cushion keeping the belt in suspended condition.

Location of the belt load side in a covered trough when transportingloose dusty materials prevents the dust from spreading to theenvironment all along the conveyer.

However, this does not prevent the upper layer of the powdered materialfrom being blown off the moving conveyer belt by the reverse air flow,which intensifies dusting in the places where the material is chargedand discharged.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an air-cushionedbelt conveyer for transporting dusty and toxic materials at great speedwithout their upper layer being carried away by the reverse air flow.

This object is achieved by means of an air-cushioned belt conveyerwherein the load sideof the belt moves in a covered trough which isconnected atits bottom to the pressure port of a fan.

According to the invention, this trough is also closed at its ends, andat its top, in the place where the material is discharged, it isconnected to the suction port of the fan, to createwithin the troughover the load side of the belt an air flo'w concurrent with the movementof the latter, for preventing the upper layer of the conveyed materialfrom being blown off.

It is advantageous to mount flexible aprons at the trough ends, wherethe, material I is charged and discharged, so as to seal off the trough.

It is also advisable to place an air cleaner between the trough and thesuction port of the fan.

This will preserve the fan from penetration thereinto of the dustparticles of the conveyed material.

Following is a detailed description of the invention with references tothe appended drawing which gives a schematic representation of ahorizontal aincushioned belt conveyer.

The belt conveyer comprises an endless flexible belt 1 passing about adriving drum 2 and a tension drum 3 which are mounted on a basement orframe (not shown). According to the invention, the load side la of thisbelt is disposed in a trough 4 which is closed both at top, and at itsends, and is connected at one end with a feed box 5, and at the otherend with a discharge bunker 6. The slack side lb of belt 1 moves onroller supports (not shown).

Mounted in the ends of trough 4, where the material is charged anddischarged, are flexible aprons 7.

In its lower part 4b under the load side In of belt 1 the trough 4 isconnected by an air duct 8 connected to the pressure port 9 of a fan 10,while its upper part 4a, at the place of the material discharge,.isconnected through an air duct 11 to the suction port 12 of the same fan10.

Between trough 4 and the suction port 12 of fan 10, within the air duct11, there is placed an air cleaner 13 with a lock gate 14 which isconnected through a pipe 15 with the discharge bunker 6.

The belt conveyer operates as follows.

With the driving drum 2 being switched on, the load side la of theconveyer belt 1 starts moving in the direction of arrow A.

The conveyed loose material B is supplied onto the load side 1a of belt1 through the feed box 5, and moves together therewith to the dischargebunker 6.

Switched on simultaneously with the driving drum 2 is fan 10 whichthrough the air duct 8 feeds compressed air into the slit space betweenthe bottom of trough 4 and the load side la of the conveyer belt 1, thuspro:

- ducing thereunder an air cushion which keepsthe load sidela of belt 1in suspended condition. This reduces the resistance to the movement ofbelt 1, and makes it run more smoothly, which extends the life of theconveyer as a whole.

From under the load side In of the conveyer belt 1 the air enters thespace of trough 4 over the conveyed material B, wherefrom the air issucked away by fan 10 via duct 11. As a result, an air flow concurrentwith the movement of belt 1 (its direction being shown at A) is createdover the material B. The speed of this flow is near to that of theconveyer belt 1, which almost completely prevents the upper layer of theconveyed material B from being blown off.

The dust particles of the material getting into the air duct 11 aresettled in the air cleaner 13, and through its lock gate 14 aredelivered into the discharge bunker 6, thus avoiding fouling of fan 10.

This closed system of air movement inside trough 4 rules out spreadingof the dust particles of the conveyed material to the environment, whichimproves working conditionsfor the personnel, and employment 'of one fansimplifies operation of the conveyer and reduces its cost price by about20 percent.

What we claim is:

1. An air-cushioned belt conveyer, comprising: a driving drum; a tensiondrum; a flexible endless belt passing about said drums, and moved bysaid driving drum; a trough disposed around the load side of said beltcarrying the material to be conveyed, which trough is closed at its topand ends; and a fan having a pressure port connected to the bottom ofsaid trough to create an air cushion under said load sideof the belt,the top of said trough, at the place where the material is dis charged,being connected to the suction port of said fan to create within thetrough over said load side of the belt an air flow concurrent with themovement of the belt and preventing the upper layer of the conveyedmaterial from being blown off.

2. A conveyer as in claim 1, in which flexible aprons are mounted at theend of said trough where the material is charged and discharged.

3. A conveyer as in claim 1, in which an air cleaner is placed betweensaid trough and the suction port of said fan.

1. An air-cushioned belt conveyer, comprising: a driving drum; a tensiondrum; a flexible endless belt passing about said drums, and moved bysaid driving drum; a trough disposed around the load side of said beltcarrying the material to be conveyed, which trough is closed at its topand ends; and a fan having a pressure port connected to the bottom ofsaid trough to create an air cushion under said load side of the belt,the top of said trough, at the place where the material is discharged,being connected to the suction port of said fan to create within thetrough over said load side of the belt an air flow concurrent with themovement of the belt and preventing the upper layer of the conveyedmaterial from being blown off.
 2. A conveyer as in claim 1, in whichflexible aprons are mounted at the end of said trough where the materialis charged and discharged.
 3. A conveyer as in claim 1, in which an aircleaner is placed between said trough and the suction port of said fan.